Kevin Doyle had equalised for the visitors after Charlton's Dorian Dervite opened the scoring, but Wolves failed to hang on for what a point, and dropped back into the relegation zone.

"Football is cruel, isn't it?" Saunders said. "Both their goals were scrambled. It wasn't our day. Karl Henry hits a 35-yarder, which hits the underside of the bar and comes out. If it is your day that goes in."

But despite their position in the bottom three, level on points with Peterborough and Barnsley, who lost at Derby and drew at Nottingham Forest respectively, Saunders insisted the squad remained confident, saying: "All is not lost. This was a kick in the teeth and is hard to swallow but it is football: you have to pick yourself up."

Huddersfield boosted their hopes of staying up as they were inspired to a 3-0 win over Millwall by Jermaine Beckford's two goals. Elsewhere, Cardiff's point away at Burnley was enough to secure the Championship title, while Brighton consolidated their play-off place with a 6-1 thumping of Blackpool. The defeated manager, Paul Ince, complained that his side appeared tired – "We looked leggy and we looked tired from the first minute to the last. We couldn't cope with their pace and technique." – while Brighton's Gus Poyet enjoyed precisely the opposite phenomenon. "We are looking good," he said. "We have momentum at the right time of the season and are still looking fresh."

Crystal Palace's struggles continued, though they remain in the top six despite a run of seven winless matches. The latest disappointment came at home to Leicester who twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at Selhurst Park. "We're disappointed with that having been in front twice but it's important to have got a point," said the Palace manager, Ian Holloway. "I would have preferred two more but you've got to take what you can." Holloway promised that his team would "tweak the nose of fear and stick an ice cube down the vest of terror" over the remainder of the season.

Bolton overtook Leicester to move into the last play-off place thanks to a 2-1 win at home to Middlesbrough, all the goals coming in the space of 10 second-half minutes. "What you've got is a group of players who have got a spirit you can't deny," said Dougie Freedman. "No team I believe in the top six have got that right now."